Are bugs the meat of the future? (WSJ)

Bugs are low in fat, high in nutrients and have a decidedly nutty taste.

So, why aren’t we chowing down on bugs instead of chicken or beef?

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That’s the question raised by a recent Wall Street Journal article, which points out that of all known animals on the planet, about 80 percent walk on six legs. The developing world is already on board with crunching on grasshoppers or beetles; why not us?

Marcel Dicke and Arnold Van Huis write that eating insects could help solve many of the world’s problems. The professors of entomology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands point out thatcreepy-crawlers aren’t usually susceptible to diseases that are harmful to humans, and farming bugs would consume fewer resources, including energy and land.

And if you’re not buying that, Dicke and Huis argue that others just eat the little buggers up — literally:

“The vast majority of the developing world already eats insects. In Laos and Thailand, weaver-ant pupae are a highly prized and nutritious delicacy. They are prepared with shallots, lettuce, chilies, lime and spices and served with sticky rice. Further back in history, the ancient Romans considered beetle larvae to be gourmet fare, and the Old Testament mentions eating crickets and grasshoppers. In the 20th century, the Japanese emperor Hirohito’s favorite meal was a mixture of cooked rice, canned wasps (including larvae, pupae and adults), soy sauce and sugar.”